Cannabis trafficking at the top of the State: the François Thierry affair

The newspaper *Libération* reports today on the involvement of the former head of the drug enforcement agency, François Thierry, in a large-scale cannabis trafficking. The top-ranked office at 36 Quai des Orfèvres allowed a wholesaler to continue his illicit activities by selectively choosing which seized items to take.

In addition to eliminating competition from his informant, Sofiane H—one of the largest importers in France—François Thierry had helped him secure a reduced sentence. The trafficker had been sentenced to 13 years in prison without parole; the sentence was reduced to 3 years thanks to his lawyer, who, oddly enough, turns out to be François Thierry's wife.

By leaving their informant in charge, the narcotics squad was able to focus on local cannabis dealers and the informant’s competitors. François Hollande even traveled there in person to commend a massive seizure of 7 metric tons in October 2015. François Thierry is accused of fabricating certain seizures.

This information published by Libération come from an undercover agent within criminal networks, Hubert Avoine.

A reexamination of law enforcement techniques.

It’s necessary to have undercover agents—informants, in other words, people with their hands deep in the «shit»—to put an end to criminal networks. But as Jean Michel Decugis, head of Itele’s police and justice desk on Canal+, points out, the political world is well aware of this and couldn’t care less about the Methods Used to Increase Volumes annual seizures.

According to him, leaders who play «The Startled Virgins» when cases like this come to light, they endorse his actions. The source from the newspaper *Libération* admits to having worked with the approval of three successive interior ministers : Claude Guéant, Manuel Valls, and Bernard Cazeneuve. If politicians agree on criminalizing cannabis users, they should first take a look at the profile of the average user, who has nothing to do with organized crime.

Boasting of having carried out record-breaking seizures while spending more than 550 million euros on cannabis enforcement is France's only concrete achievement regarding cannabis.

A possible legalization of cannabis would put an end to the importation of Moroccan hashish. Local producers, certified for their quality, would provide access to high-end cannabis, relegating the run-of-the-mill, adulterated hashish to the category of substandard goods. Furthermore, the number of corrupt cops and shady deals would certainly drop to near zero.

Theo Caillart